What will it take - money? Linus Torvalds throwing a hissy fit ? Ubuntu Snappy/Click packages ?
Linux adoption can be 10x what it is today if the package management is unified. Its not just about the format - its the whole ecosystem. One Linux App Store, better tooling to build packages, only one package to publish. Any kind of performance improvment (like this one) benefits both sets of users.
I mean RPM and DEB each have their advantages.. but what will it take for a single format to emerge ?

Here
Jeez, it seems they use the GT.M embedded database and a GUI that connects directly to this database... kind of like PGAdmin3. They use the MUMPS scripting language to build logic into the database (kind of like stored procedures).
the deployment doc on Linux is a mess. Wow!

here's my suggestion: For extra convenience, I recommend the TP-Link WDR 3600 router : this router has 2 USB ports - one to take your 3G dongle and another to connect a USB drive or SD card reader to make these files available. I highly doing this before buying a printer. Note that the USB ports will also be able to drive a printer in case you dont want to spend on a wireless printer.
My printer recommendation is the Epson WF-2540 printer. This is now connected to the router using a regular ethernet cable or the wifi.
Your father can now print his stuff from the laptop or from his mobile phones (both android and iphone) on top of the wifi network.

It is hard to quantify what should be done in a 40 hour workweek - this is precisely why skilled work is not granted overtime.
Usually there are two kinds of skilled labor - one who are very skilled and can get a lot done within a day and others who are not this skilled, but will put in extra time onthe weekends to get the same amount of work done. Both should be paid at par - or else the first category will gravitate towards being the other.
this does not apply in highly process oriented or unskilled labor because there is close to zero variance in productivity - think call centres, factory workers, etc.

Not trying to flamebait here, but genuinely puzzled - what is possibly so great about the N900 versus something like a rooted Nexus 5?
I see comments about cyanogenmod, etc. being a bit unstable - but comparing it to the N900, where very few people actually cared about building the OS ? The next version of the VM - ART - is nothing to sneeze at as well.
I'm not sure if you know, but when you install cyanogenmod (or one of the hundred different ROMS that people are actively developing on xda-developers), you get a Google free operating system. There is NO integration with Google. It is only if you install the "gapps" package, that you get the whole google shebang - play store, services, etc.
As a hacker friendly phone, I can develop on the N5 using Python, Golang, Scala, C#/Mono, QT, etc. - is there a usecase at which the N900 blows this out of the water ?
The only valid point I can think about is the keyboard - yes, it is a paradigm shift. But for daily use, smart keyboards like Swiftkey, Touchpal (pure open source) will serve you very well. For your developer needs, connect a monitor through HDMI/MHL and use a microusb adapter .
You have a first grade terminal emulator, IRC, low power bluetooth, built-in VPN + tethering - I would argue much more suitable for the developer than the venerable N900. Did I mention quad core processor, GPU and 2 GB of RAM with a brilliant display ?
If you want, you can install other OSes on the phone.

I would say it is the Epson WF 3540.
First of all, it has two sided ADF scan - which is damn useful for getting rid of all those bills by scanning them and also very rare for a printer at this price point. Secondly, you can connect a CISS ink system for bulk printing and refillable ink tanks. You will be able to buy non-OEM refillable ink cartridges anyway, plus the fact that all the different colors have different cartridges means that you want be overpaying for just printing a lot of black and white.
It has Android and iPhone apps for the usual wireless printing.
It has gotten good reviews for its build quality, particularly its scanner head hinges.

Much cheaper - at scale I daresay you could get it below 100 USD given that it's price is already heading down.
For reading purposes, the epaper display is simply unbeatable.
On the other hand if you wanted to use it for various other (note taking, spreadsheets,etc.) purposes, then why not an Android tablet ? Australia has the Millenius Android tablet for about 200 USD.
The specific advantage of this approach is that, if the school wants to develop custom apps (which in high likelihood it will), it is much cheaper and less cumbersome (app store policies) than the Apple SDK.

I have noticed that rather than using last.fm, I get better quality in using niche music services. A good example is di.fm for electronic/dance/trance music.
It's premium streams are a bit more expensive than last.fm (4.99$ p.m.) but I get about 70 channels and multi-format (which includes an android app)